Cover story: At home at work
When 28-year-old media specialist Carla Boyd married a Ford Motor Co. executive who worked in Detroit, she had to make a choice: live with her husband in Michigan or stay and work in Memphis, Tenn.

Brauer: Education industry needs to change
For the past several years, my annual forecast for the U.S. economy has become boring, if upbeat: the longest U.S. economic expansion ever has brought us more good times, more economic growth, more income, and a higher standard of living.

E-commerce start requires savvy
The Internet is a global super-mall expected to generate $95 billion in revenue by the end of 1999, but local businesses say establishing a presence in cyberspace requires the same business savvy as opening shop on Main Street.

Exec stresses being prepared
Staff Writer Damon Cline sat down with Rick Toole, president of W.R. Toole Engineers, to talk about his involvement in various industrial development organizations and his vision of Augusta's economic future.

Briefcase
Americans are optimistic about life in 2010. According to three surveys by the Yankelovich Partners , a consumer research firm. Sixty-three percent of Americans say they will be ``as happy or happier'' in the 21st century, and 36 percent believe they'll have more free time.

Old world custom still in use today
Andrea Conrad has a vision of one day designing beautiful stained glass windows, the kind that softly light chapels and bring warmth and character to area homes. It's a skill she can't learn at any school. It's a craft that can only be learned working as an apprentice by the side of a master.

Getaways help workers bond, generate ideas
Last year, local human resource company MAU took its officers and top managers to Beaver Creek, Colo., to go skiing. They stayed in a hotel together, ate meals together and learned to ski together.

E-mail privacy questions blur lines
Employees who assume that your e-mail is private, take note. Old rules about written correspondence still apply: If you don't want everyone to read it, don't write it down, managers say.

Tardiness is never acceptable
Dear Carson: How should one handle a situation in which an appointment is for 1 p.m. and you are not even acknowledged for a half-hour? What should you do about it, and is there some protocol concerning such tardiness? -- Ignored & Waiting

Turning a new leaf
Smaller calendars, about the size of a compact disc are gaining popularity because they fit easily in small work spaces.

City sails smoothly into Y2K
It seems there was a young Naval student being put through the paces by an old sea captain. ``What would you do if a sudden storm sprang up on the starboard?'' the old salt asked.

Rivals change sides in debate
When Michael Givens sees a Confederate flag, his emotions flow from a deep wellspring.
For him the emblem recalls a great-great-grandfather, Young H.E. Hitch, photographed with his rifle, wearing a gray uniform his wife had sewn, just before marching off with the South Carolina 16th Infantry to a war he never came home from, not even for a proper burial. Mr. Givens has letters the soldier wrote to the family he would never see again:

Residents oppose phone towers
NORTH AUGUSTA -- Julie Mattox and her husband bought their home five years ago because of the picturesque land it rests on.

Volunteer makes 'VOICE' her priority
AIKEN -- On most week days, Geneva Riley Greene can be found in the activity room of the new Valley Outreach Interfaith Center, or VOICE, as the service is known throughout Horse Creek Valley.

Lawmakers consider changing tax structure
ATLANTA -- The way the state of Georgia gets its money has changed in the past five years, reflecting a shift in the economy toward greater reliance on the service sector.

Mourners say goodbye to teen
GRANITEVILLE -- It wasn't the New Year's Day that Joshua Wilson had planned for his wife. But Saturday, on weak, bended knees, the young widower spent time with his wife alone beneath a funeral canopy surrounded by a blanket of flowers.

Educators praise program
Teaching a child to read is no easy task. But this year Georgia educators have the chance to better prepare themselves to teach reading. And local teachers said the opportunity has been well worth it.

This week in South Carolina
Reference/user librarian Bob Fernekes will lecture on historical and genealogical research in the 21st century at 10 a.m. at the University of South Carolina-Aiken. For details, call the USC-Aiken Office of Continuing Education at 641-3288.

County to move pupils
In eight years, Libby Carswell's son has changed schools four times. Yet the family has never moved from its Columbia County home off William Few Parkway. During the years, Matt, 13, has attended three elementary schools because of rezonings. And, according to a school system zoning proposal, the Riverside Middle School seventh-grader will spend eighth grade at a new middle school.

Hits decommissioning Lock and Dam
Now that we have a date that the so-called ``test'' will be run to decide if the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam should be decommissioned, as citizens we should get together to stop this tragedy.

Makes his peace with the math of the millennium
Until recently, I was of the school of thought that believed the new millennium started with the year 2001; not this year. The gentleman who wrote the letter a couple of weeks ago illustrating his logic with the counting of peaches made good sense to me.
Bob Cox, McCormick

Wants Rocker to keep his job
John Rocker's views expressed in the recent issue of Sports Illustrated have yielded harsh criticism with a witch-hunt type mentality. While he is obviously ignorant and has no sense of good judgment, I don't think he deserves to have his career ruined. Did he murder his wife and her lover? Did he choke his coach and threaten to sue if he wasn't allowed back on the court? Did he bite off an opponent's ear? Did he spit on a referee? Did he use racial slurs? Was he speaking for the Atlanta Braves organization? The answer to all of these questions is no.
Holli Bradberry, Augusta

Responds to stories on price-gouging
Shame on Frank Witsil! He should be pulled from future Hurricane Floyd, follow-up gouging stories, because he has a bias against me. As a staff writer with the award-winning Chronicle he should know better.
Neil Gordon, Augusta

Says Rocker speaks the truth
Maybe John Rocker's comments feelings aren't shared by all of us, but then none of us were subjected to the rude, cruel, down-right uncivilized treatment he received during his visit to the ``Big Apple.'' Then again, could it be that there really are those of us who ... find it somewhat odd to see someone with green hair ... are saddened to see a 20-year-old mother with four children ranging from the ages of 8 years to newborn ... still feel that homosexuality is not ``the norm'' ... do fear AIDs ... and from time to time feel like a ``foreigner'' in our own homeland because we can't understand the language being spoken around us?
Keith Kimberly, Augusta

Hits publication of D.U.I. offenders
Every time The Chronicle publishes the photos of convicted D.U.I. offenders I get angry. I can't understand their motivation or reasoning. I know D.U.I. is a crime and I don't condone or support this type of behavior; however, I find it very interesting as to whose photos are published. Why is it I never see the photo of a professional (i.e., the doctor, lawyer or, heaven forbid, the politician). All that are ever published are photos of the poor or middle class. Makes a man wonder why.
George Greeley, Augusta

Says Dorsey needs to mature
Rick Dorsey, a fledgling sports columnist, has found a political football to kick around. He should read Cal Thomas's Dec. 28 column and learn how a mature person handles a little verbal flap. The way Mr. Dorsey rushes to the minority side, he is saying they are inferior and they need my help. A good course in ``Logic 101'' would help him.
Faber Hance, North Augusta

Disagrees with sports columnist
According to sports columnist Rick Dorsey, John Rocker ``deserves harsh punishment.'' He is the poster child for how venemous the ``politically correct'' police can be when offended.
Everett Schultz, Jr., Augusta

Hits decommissioning Lock and Dam
Now that we have a date that the so-called ``test'' will be run to decide if the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam should be decommissioned, as citizens we should get together to stop this tragedy.

Bashes stand on homosexual rights
In response to the statement in the Dec. 21 editorial: ``If homosexuals are put on an `equal' level with heterosexuals, the former will naturally ask for the same benefits as the latter,'' I am shocked and outraged. Homosexuals are equal to heterosexuals and should be treated as such.

Defends Animal Control chief
Recent comments by Mary Kathleen Blanchard and other letter writers to your publication are wrong about Jim Larmer.

Support remarks of Braves' Rocker
Why are all the commentators, pundits and writers of letters to the editor so eager to denounce John Rocker for speaking his mind? Why does expressing his opinion bother you more than the behavior he describes?
Dale W.Hemman, Evans

Rips Braves' Rocker for comments
While I agree in principle that Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker has the right to say whatever he wants, and while I agree that he has the right to earn a living, I also have the right not to support his way of living. If he cannot respect those who make his millionaire salary possible, why should I patronize his team?
Luis R. Scott, Grovetown

Happy last millennium year
Calendar purists will point out, correctly, that we won't be ringing in a new millennium, or even a new century, until next year. But there's no doubt that we are ringing in a new year, and for that, here's what would make a great final year of the current millennium:

1999's worst quotes
Each year we publish the worst, most biased quotes of the past year, as determined by 44 judges recruited by the press watchdog organization, Media Research Center, headed by L. Brent Bozell.

Most New Year's glitches not Y2K
Call them non-Y2K bugs. Most of the technology snags reported by governments and businesses in the millennium's dawn -- from failed cash machines in Italy to nuclear plant shutdowns in the United States -- had nothing to do with the feared computer glitch.

Dallas man plans to live year exclusively online
DALLAS -- In an effort to prove how wired the world has become, a 26-year-old former computer systems manager walked into an empty Dallas house on Saturday with a laptop computer and said he doesn't plan to leave until 2001.

Wal-Mart expands Web site
NEW YORK -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's biggest retailer, relaunched its Web site on New Year's Day with an expanded selection of clothes, books and appliances, along with such new features as e-mail reminders about anniversaries and birthdays.

Monday could reveal Y2K glitches
Americans looked overseas Sunday for hints of Y2K trouble in the world's earliest time zones, where employees already began returning to offices for the workweek and turning on computers and other systems for the first time in 2000.

Y2K bug may bite on another day
NEW YORK -- After the 21st century dawned without a crippling Y2K catastrophe, some people branded the millennium bug an exaggerated threat, a huge angst-washed waste of money that got mounds more attention than it deserved.

Banks sail into new century without problems
WASHINGTON -- America's banks and savings and loans reported no problems as the calendar flipped to a new century. But they had an army of computer experts working at facilities around the country Saturday to make sure that all the sophisticated financial accounting equipment kept working.